K OTÁZKE DYNAMIKY SOCIÁLNYCH FUNKCIÍ MESTSKÉHO SVIATKU: OBERAČKOVÉ SLÁVNOSTI

On the basis of empirical materials from the research of a Small-Carpathian grape harvest festival studied as an urban feast, the study explores how this festival is established within the local and regional culture and what are its social functions. This public festival is organised by the self-governments of urban centres of the Small-Carpathian wine-growing region in Slovakia. The analysed material is based on the activities related to the organisation, content and forms of the grape harvest feast in the Town of Pezinok. The ethnological study of the social facts framing the origins of this feast, the analysis of the structure of the content and its changes under the influence of local and supra-local events, and the mapping of the circumstances under which this feast has been preserved until today focus, through an analysis of the various contexts of this festival, on learning about its current social function. At the horizontal and vertical levels, the dynamics of this function is given by a combination of the characteristics linked to terms such as: custom – ritual – political manifestation – trade – entertainment. From the point of view of methodology, the study is based on the social science concept of invented tradition and the theory of ritualisation.